Tonia worked all day, from morning to evening, and whenever it was nighttime, she didn't want her peace to be disturbed, so she usually turned off her phone to avoid any calls cutting short her sweet sleep. She loved to do that even despite all the preaching she got from her friends on the danger of turning off the phone at night, especially in emergency cases. When the talk worsened, especially from her dad, she decided to keep the phone silent by turning off the ringing volume or turning it off completely. With that, if any call entered, she would see it and return the call when she woke up, but for any sound disturbing her short sleep time, no, that's what she was not willing to sacrifice.
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On a Thursday morning around 5:00 am, she woke up a bit early because she was pressed, and when she reached for her phone, she saw "27 missed calls" boldly displayed on her screen. She flung it onto the bed and didn't bother to check who called, but as she got up and walked some steps away from the bed, her instinct urged her. She stopped, used her left hand to clean her sleepy eyes, and walked back to get her phone to check.
As soon as she glanced at the phone, she exclaimed, "Jesus!" It was her dad who had called three hours ago, which was unusual. Her heart began to beat fast as she dialed the phone with her trembling hand.
"Sorry, the number you're trying to call is not reachable at the moment, please try again later," the auto-response from the telecommunication company increased her heartbeat, triggered by weird imagination of her dad being in danger.
Still in the spot, moving to and fro in the room in her pajamas, she dialed her mom's number, it was switched off too, she dialed her friend's line, Franca, who lived very close to her dad's house. The call connected, rang, and then went dead without answering. She put a call again, and this time, her call was busy, which gave her a hint that somehow, her friend was aware of the situation at hand.
She forgot she was about to urinate; she rushed to the wardrobe, made a fast change into baggy black short and a yellow polo, picked up her keys, locked the door, and ran off to the street where she could find a cab to her father's house. The day hadn't brightened yet; cabs were not much on the road, which she had a tough time waving, stopping, and carefully selecting which one to enter because it was dangerous to enter any cab at that hour.
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While she was on her way, she kept dialing her father's number, but it was switched off. Her mom's line was off too, and the only one that was connecting was Franca's, but she kept putting off the call as it rang. Still on her way, while pushing the driver to fly the car instead, her phone beeped. She hurriedly checked, and it was a message from Franca which read; "Come to Ozed Hospital, your dad is admitted there." Upon reading that, her heart left her body and returned instantly.
"Driver, please drive to Ozed Hospital," she said in a slightly high tone, which sounded as a deep command to the driver.
"Ma, if it's Ozed Hospital, that means your money is going to be doubled because..."
"Doubled? Because of what? What's the distance between the two locations?!" Tonia's voice was at the loudest, but the driver wasn't bothered; he still maintained his stand.
After about an eight-minute drive from their argument scene, they got to the hospital. She paid the driver the complete charge without arguing with him, and she ran off to the reception hall.
"Hello, good morning, I'm Miss Tonia Nubu, the daughter of Chief Nubu who was admitted here. Please, I want to be directed to the ward where he's being treated," she said in a rush to the lady receptionist at the reception space who was smiling looking at her reactions.
"Okay, please head down to your left and check the first door," the receptionist pointed in the direction while she smiled and watched her as she ran off in that direction.
As she bumped into the room, she was totally lost. She paused at the entrance, staring at her dad, her mom, and Franca seated on plastic chairs facing the door, and they were in perfect condition. Not even her dad was lying down on the bed. In fact, there was no bed in the room.
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Everywhere was silent for about three minutes while she stayed mute, staring at them, imagining and trying to understand what was happening, while the other three gazed at her, patiently waiting to hear what she had to say.
"Dad! Franca! What....?"
"What is it? Where did you go in the night when I called you 27 times, and you didn't pick up?" The dad interrupted with a high-toned voice as he got up from his chair and walked closely to her.
"Dad, I didn't go anywhere. I was asleep, and my phone didn't ring out, that's why I didn't hear," she knew she would be blasted. She hid her face in shame as he said that.
"Didn't ring out? Wasn't it you that set it like that? When will you learn? I was able to pull you out from turning off your phone at night, and here you are, with an even more childish act. What if something bad was actually happening to me at that time, and I needed you to pull me out of danger? What would have been my fate?"
The words went straight into hear brain and got her weakened.
"Daddy, I'm sorry," she knelt down and began to beg, and tears rushed out of her eyes. That was how she escaped the habit of silencing her phone while asleep.